MINERvA: a dedicated neutrino scattering experiment at NuMI

MINERvA is a dedicated neutrino cross-section experiment planned for the near detector hall of the NuMI neutrino beam at Fermilab. I summarize the detector design and physics capabilities of the experiment.Comment: Comments: to appear in the proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Neutrino-Nucleus Interactions in the Few-GeV Region (NuInt05

Updated electroweak measurements from neutrino-nucleon deeply inelastic scattering at CCFR

We report the results of a study of electroweak parameters from observations of neutral current {nu}N deeply inelastic scattering in the CCFR detector at the FNAL Tevatron Quadrupole Triplet neutrino beam. An improved extraction of the weak mixing angle in the on-shell renormalization scheme, incorporating additional data and with an improved technique for constraining systematic errors, is presented. Within the Standard Model, this result constrains the W mass with a precision comparable to that from direct measurements. The result is also presented in a model-independent form, as constraints on neutral current quark-neutrino couplings, to facilitate comparisons with theories outside the Standard Model. Using this result, limits on new four-fermion interactions, lepto-quarks and neutrino oscillations are presented. Prospects for a successor experiment, NuTeV (FNAL-E815), are also presented

NuTeV sin⁡2θW\sin ^2 \theta_{\rm W} anomaly and nuclear parton distributions revisited

By studying the Paschos-Wolfenstein (PW) ratio of deep inelastic $\nu{\rm Fe}$ and $\bar \nu{\rm Fe}$ scattering cross sections, we show that it should be possible to explain the NuTeV $\sin ^2 \theta_{\rm W}$ anomaly with quite conventional physics, by introducing mutually different nuclear modifications for the valence-$u$ and valence-$d$ quark distributions of the protons in iron. Keeping the EKS98 nuclear modifications for $u_V+d_V$ as a baseline, we find that some 20-30 % nuclear modifications to the $u_V$ and $d_V$ distributions account for the change induced in the PW ratio by the NuTeV-suggested increase $\Delta \sin ^2 \theta_{\rm W}=0.005$. We show that introduction of such nuclear modifications in $u_V$ and $d_V$ individually, does not lead into contradiction with the present global DGLAP analyses of the nuclear parton distributions, where deep inelastic $lA$ scattering data and Drell-Yan dilepton data from $pA$ collisions are used as constraints. We thus suggest that the NuTeV result serves as an important further constraint in pinning down the nuclear effects of the bound nucleon PDFs. We also predict that if the NuTeV anomaly is explained by this mechanism, the NOMAD experiment should see an increase in the weak mixing angle quite close to the NuTeV result.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

NUISANCE: a neutrino cross-section generator tuning and comparison framework

NUISANCE is an open source C++ framework which facilitates detailed studies of neutrino interaction cross-section models implemented in Monte Carlo neutrino event generators. It provides a host of automated methods to perform comparisons of multiple generators to published cross-section measurements and each other. External reweighting libraries are used to allow the end-user to evaluate the impact of model parameters variations in the generators with data, or to tune the generator predictions to arbitrary dataset combinations. The design is modular and focusses on ease-of-use to allow new datasets and more generators to be added without requiring detailed understanding of the entire NUISANCE package. We discuss the motivation for the NUISANCE framework and suggested usage cases, alongside a description of its core structure

The Potential for Neutrino Physics at Muon Colliders and Dedicated High Current Muon Storage Rings

Conceptual design studies are underway for muon colliders and other high-current muon storage rings that have the potential to become the first true ``neutrino factories''. Muon decays in long straight sections of the storage rings would produce precisely characterized beams of electron and muon type neutrinos of unprecedented intensity. This article reviews the prospects for these facilities to greatly extend our capabilities for neutrino experiments, largely emphasizing the physics of neutrino interactions.Comment: 107 pages, 16 figures, to be published in Physics Report

The T2K ND280 Off-Axis Pi-Zero Detector

The Pi-Zero detector (P{\O}D) is one of the subdetectors that makes up the off-axis near detector for the Tokai-to-Kamioka (T2K) long baseline neutrino experiment. The primary goal for the P{\O}D is to measure the relevant cross sections for neutrino interactions that generate pi-zero's, especially the cross section for neutral current pi-zero interactions, which are one of the dominant sources of background to the electron neutrino appearance signal in T2K. The P{\O}D is composed of layers of plastic scintillator alternating with water bags and brass sheets or lead sheets and is one of the first detectors to use Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs) on a large scale.Comment: 17 pages, submitted to NIM

Bounds on the tau and muon neutrino vector and axial vector charge radius

A Majorana neutrino is characterized by just one flavor diagonal electromagnetic form factor: the anapole moment, that in the static limit corresponds to the axial vector charge radius . Experimental information on this quantity is scarce, especially in the case of the tau neutrino. We present a comprehensive analysis of the available data on the single photon production process $e^+ e^- -> \nu \bar\nu \gamma$ off Z-resonance, and we discuss the constraints that these measurements can set on for the tau neutrino. We also derive limits for the Dirac case, when the presence of a vector charge radius is allowed. Finally, we comment on additional experimental data on $\nu_\mu$ scattering from the NuTeV, E734, CCFR and CHARM-II collaborations, and estimate the limits implied for and for the muon neutrino.Comment: 20 pages, 2 eps figures. CCFR data included in the analysis. Conclusion unchange

Measurement of νˉμ\bar{\nu}_{\mu} and νμ\nu_{\mu} charged current inclusive cross sections and their ratio with the T2K off-axis near detector

We report a measurement of cross section $\sigma(\nu_{\mu}+{\rm nucleus}\rightarrow\mu^{-}+X)$ and the first measurements of the cross section $\sigma(\bar{\nu}_{\mu}+{\rm nucleus}\rightarrow\mu^{+}+X)$ and their ratio $R(\frac{\sigma(\bar \nu)}{\sigma(\nu)})$ at (anti-)neutrino energies below 1.5 GeV. We determine the single momentum bin cross section measurements, averaged over the T2K $\bar{\nu}/\nu$-flux, for the detector target material (mainly Carbon, Oxygen, Hydrogen and Copper) with phase space restricted laboratory frame kinematics of $\theta_{\mu}$500 MeV/c. The results are $\sigma(\bar{\nu})=\left( 0.900\pm0.029{\rm (stat.)}\pm0.088{\rm (syst.)}\right)\times10^{-39}$ and $\sigma(\nu)=\left( 2.41\ \pm0.022{\rm{(stat.)}}\pm0.231{\rm (syst.)}\ \right)\times10^{-39}$in units of cm$^{2}$/nucleon and$R\left(\frac{\sigma(\bar{\nu})}{\sigma(\nu)}\right)= 0.373\pm0.012{\rm (stat.)}\pm0.015{\rm (syst.)}$.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figure

Shrinking a large dataset to identify variables associated with increased risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection in Western Kenya

Large datasets are often not amenable to analysis using traditional single-step approaches. Here, our general objective was to apply imputation techniques, principal component analysis (PCA), elastic net and generalized linear models to a large dataset in a systematic approach to extract the most meaningful predictors for a health outcome. We extracted predictors for Plasmodium falciparum infection, from a large covariate dataset while facing limited numbers of observations, using data from the People, Animals, and their Zoonoses (PAZ) project to demonstrate these techniques: data collected from 415 homesteads in western Kenya, contained over 1500 variables that describe the health, environment, and social factors of the humans, livestock, and the homesteads in which they reside. The wide, sparse dataset was simplified to 42 predictors of P. falciparum malaria infection and wealth rankings were produced for all homesteads. The 42 predictors make biological sense and are supported by previous studies. This systematic data-mining approach we used would make many large datasets more manageable and informative for decision-making processes and health policy prioritization

Global Search for New Physics with 2.0/fb at CDF

Data collected in Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron are searched for indications of new electroweak-scale physics. Rather than focusing on particular new physics scenarios, CDF data are analyzed for discrepancies with the standard model prediction. A model-independent approach (Vista) considers gross features of the data, and is sensitive to new large cross-section physics. Further sensitivity to new physics is provided by two additional algorithms: a Bump Hunter searches invariant mass distributions for "bumps" that could indicate resonant production of new particles; and the Sleuth procedure scans for data excesses at large summed transverse momentum. This combined global search for new physics in 2.0/fb of ppbar collisions at sqrt(s)=1.96 TeV reveals no indication of physics beyond the standard model.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures. Final version which appeared in Physical Review D Rapid Communication